STOP KOR! I'm not exactly sure what Banran wants to stop. Maybe it's Lee Myung Bak, Korea's president that seems to do whatever he feels like doing, and fuck everyone else (example: importing U.S. beef and the four rivers project, both of which were opposed by an overwhelming majority of Koreans, but President Lee did them - or is doing them - anyway). Well, whatever their message is, I'm not entirely sure of. I'm almost certain that they probably lean heavily on the left side of politics, though.
This ep (released as a split release 7" on Way Back When / Even Worse last year) is a short, but somewhat effective introduction to the band. I witnessed the band live early last year (which I posted right here), but, unfortunately, this record doesn't quite live up to the visceral impact of their live set. Their live show was fast, vicious, and heavy. Dropdead seemed to be an obvious influence (the singer even sported that band's shirt). On record, it feels more like a throwback to 80s hardcore, with a slightly less powerful Dropdead influence (meaning, they aren't heavy on record like Dropdead were). The record is most definitely tight, but you really need to see them tear it up live. Unfortunately, most folks won't witness one of their sets, but who knows. I'd like to really see where they go next with this, but they seemed young, and maybe will enter the military soon (mandatory in Korea), which might not only end the band, but end anything interesting they might do in the future musically. I hope not.
Here's a link to the ep: Stop Kor ep. However, if you can get a hold of it still, I highly recommend you do that. Also, I updated the link for the Bamseom Pirates record (which might be even harder to find for folks outside of Korea) which you can find here.
South Korea's "godfather of rock" finally gets some reissue treatment love in the west. These two compilations ("Beautiful Rivers..." gets the whole vinyl/cd treatment, while "From Where..." is a digital only 7 song release) were released in the U.S. by Light in the Attic, and are long overdue. Shin Joong Hyun is pretty much THE dude for Korean guitar rock in the 60s and early 70s before his imprisonment by the Park Chung Hee administration/dictatorship (more info on that is on the interweb). He was featured (along with his backing band) on a bunch of different singers albums. Some of these singers are not even on these compilations (no Pearl Sisters, but I have one of their albums anyway), and it also doesn't feature any Add 4 which was Shin's first band from around '64. I'm really curious about that band, and I hope Light in the Attic will reissue that stuff someday, as well.
The music is really quite great, although it sounds dated in comparison to what was going on during the time that most of this was released (1969-1974). Don't let that stop you from hearing this stuff. Shin's guitar playing is quite great and carries a kind of eastern melodic edge that maybe you won't hear on first listens. He can also rip shit up, and fry your brain with acid drenched guitar solos. For proof of that, listen to Kim Sun's "The Man Who Must Leave" which sounds like a cross between The Doors and Bauhaus (listen to the bass) with Shin ripping out some twisted acid guitar at the beginning and the end. In between is some very heartfelt singing from Kim Sun, whom I've never heard of before. A very passionate man, apparently.
Other highlights is, of course, the controversial title track which was the root cause of Shin's eventual imprisonment. Apparently there's an 18 minute version of this song somewhere, but I've never heard it. Also, my favorite Korean singer, Kim Jung Mi (김정미), from this era is featured here. The fantastic "The Sun" (also on Kim Jung Mi's "Now", which is a great psych/folk record by any standards) on "Beautiful Rivers..." and the title track from the digital release are excellent songs that really showcase what a great singer Kim was. Some really nice strings on "The Sun" as well. Might bring a tear to your eye, so be careful.
There's also highlights that you're probably not going to find anywhere else even if you live in Korea. For example, a very funky live cover of "Funky Broadway" which sounds like it features an American singer, but gives no credit to him in the liner notes. And "I've got Nothing to Say" which is a too short live & raw recording for a movie called The Beauty (미인 - good luck finding that one). Seriously, that song could've kept going for another 5 to 10 minutes and I wouldn't be complaining. A studio version of it is featured on "From Where..." but it's not quite the same.
Seriously great stuff. You can get this stuff from the Light in the Attic website, which I highly recommend cuz it'll be cheaper. This includes digital downloads if, like myself, you would love to have the vinyl, but have a hard time justifying shipping it over to a country that you may not stay in for much longer. Got to keep it sparse in the material possessions category. Then again, it's probably at one of the record stores I go to from time to time in Seoul. I'll write about those stores later. Right now, enjoy this shit.
Here's the actual clip from the movie The Beauty that I wrote about above:
Alright, I decided to import all of my blogs related to Korea over on this one. I guess the other one (at hardworlders.blogspot.com) is pretty much dead, unfortunately. C'est la vie, as the French, or something, would say. Anyway, I will try to continue posting stuff about Korea and some of my travels for the one or two people that might actually read it on this new one. And, of course, listen to Slough Feg. The awesome metal band that coined the term Hardworlders in song.
Here's a quick preface: Most of this was written in late August, and I just now got around to finishing it. Lazy.
I'm back in Korea after a month in the states. Not really ready to teach students yet. Not even ready to do a post right now, but I need to get one in for August. I don't want this thing to be all passe cuz I missed a month. Right? Well, after a grueling 25 hour trip back to Korea with only 30 minutes of sleep before I had to wake up and board, I decided that I should probably take a trip out to the northeast coast of Korea to a coastal city called Seokcho. The route went something like this:
Friday, directly after work, I had planned to take a 2 and 1/2 hour bus to Injae. Injae is where my buddy Jason temporary lived until his flight back to the states. Injae is in Gangwon-do, the most beautiful province in Korea. Seriously! Check the pics below. Before I made it to the bus station to head out there, I decided it would be a grand idea to sit on my glasses. Broken. No...a run to the eyeglass store and they were good as...almost new. So, I had to rush to the bus stop. Made it! Get on the bus. Relax. Tried to sleep, but couldn't. Hopped off in Injae and I'm eating bbq with his boss and drinking soju. Here's what we were eating below:
Here is some makchang (막창) which is the....large intestine I believe. Of a pig....I believe. Very good here. This is the bbq place in the building of the bus station.
And here's the whole spread:
And below is pork meat with the bone cartilidge in it (find out the name later). Quite crunchy and very good. This is a pic of it before it was cooked:
Drinking and hell raising occurred on this night, and the next day Jason's girl came by and we headed out to Sokcho. Before we got there I got a great picture of Seoraksan right here:
Beautiful, eh? I've hiked that thing before. Took me 12 hours, and I thought I was going to die but I did it. And that's what's important...maybe. Hard. Very hard.
Not long after that shot, we ate what might have been the best meal I've ever had in my life. Below are the pictures of what we ate and I will have to ask my friend what they were again because I've never had this meal before.
Here's the spread. There's a type of jeon (전) in the middle next to the kimchi. All of these side dishes were pretty great.
Below are some kind of tofu cakes. They're in the above picture too. Really great.
This was not featured in the above picture, but this was kind of the main course. It's a tofu soup type of thing, and you could add some soy sauce to it if you liked. Personally, I thought it was great without anything added to it. Fantastic lunch.
Of course, you need some booze at the dinner table if you're gonna eat in this country, otherwise it's just not a fucking meal. Welcome to makolli world. Love this stuff.
After this, we headed to the beach, of which I don't have any pictures of, but that night we painted the town polka dots. Here is some amazing amazing food we ate, and a pic of the Sokcho bridge which featured a swarm of seagulls flying above. Really quite beautiful. It must have been the lights that attracted them. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the seagulls, but I do have some video I posted at the bottom of the post.
Okay, here's a bottle of makolli, which I think was the Gangwon-do variety. Each province of Korea has their own particular kinds of soju and makolli. This was Inje makolli (인제 막걸리).
Ahh!!!! Delicious. What we have in the middle is squid soondae (오징어 순대) which is basically stuffed squid, and it is fucking awesome. Above it is regular soondae which is basically a Korean sausage using pig intestines that they stuff. Sometimes it's not that great at the street stands, but here it was great. Below both is kimchi. Where would a Korean meal be without it.
The main course? Maybe, but it was some fantastic grilled fish. A definite variety, and I don't know the names of all of 'em. Maybe I can add that later. Sokcho is awesome. Everyone should go there RIGHT NOW!
And here's the finale. A video of the seagulls flying overhead:
Korean baseball. Really, I should go to games more often. It's an excellent excuse to get drunk and NOT drive home. But, as is, this is only my second time to visit the ball park in Korea. The first time was in 2007 at around the same time to see the Doosan Bears stomp the Hanhwa Eagles. I was pulling for the Eagles, since I was living in Daejeon at the time (they name the teams after the corporations that sponsor them, so Hanhwa Eagles is the team for Daejeon). I am still more of an Eagles fan even though they ain't good (and currently, second to last in the league), but on this night, I was a Bears fan. Both of these teams are Seoul teams, but my understanding is that the Twins are like the equivalent of the Yankees. So, of course I am not about to pull for them. Hell, the Texas Rangers smashed 'em in the playoffs last year, so any team that is a dynasty like the Yankees does not get my love. Only hate. So, the Bears are more like the Mets, and I'm okay with that....until they play the Eagles again.
In case you haven't been keeping up with Korean weather, it's raining like a motherfucker over there. Floods and all kinds of mayhem. I, however, am not there. I'm on vacation in Texas visiting folks and friends, and I guess I picked a good time to do so. Although....it is the exact opposite over here. No rain anywhere. At the time of this game, the weather took a break, and we could enjoy this ballgame, but seriously, it had been pouring down the previous week or so, and continued up until I left, and apparently just got completely over the top recently. So, excellent weather for the game. I went with some co-workers, which was a little annoying at times. Mostly because I went with a dude that I kinda don't like at all. But I'm not gonna get into that. I just focused on the game.
A few things about baseball games here: 1) the stadium is separated by which team you are pulling for, so we were all Bears fans so we sat on the opposite side from the Twins fans. 2) each side has a male cheerleader, and occasionally four ready made ladies would hop on the stage and do a jig for the male crowd. They usually dance to k-pop hitz. 3) when one team is pitching, the other team's fans can make an ass ton of noise, to encourage their team at the bat. 4) each team player has a chant. I've heard these things are similar to Japanese baseball teams, too. Anything else? No? Well, let's sum up the game: Bears won 6-0. The Bears winning pitcher (with a complete game) was a foreigner named Dustin Nippert. Nice job, and fun times. I didn't even have a drop of beer, and it was still about 10 times more fun than an American baseball game. Who woulda thought? Below are some photos of it, and some youtube clips that I took from the game.
Maybe my second Asia Metal Fest? There's one about every month over here, and it always seems to be organized by the singer/leader dude from Oathean. Who are Oathean? Well, they are pretty much THE SHIT when it comes to the Korean metal scene. Now, they are not the best, or most original, but they are a pretty solid symphonic/black/death metal band. Especially live, when they are at their most black metal. Truth be told (instead of untruth), I don't listen to them, or really any Korean metal band (save Pyha) in my home, but that doesn't mean that the scene sucks here. It's just that most of the music doesn't really fascinate me. Two things that seem to define the scene is: symphonic metal, and metal core (does that term still exist?), and we get a little of the symphonic, and a lot of the metal core during the Asia Metal Fest that went down on a tropical rainy day, June 25, 2011. AND Napalm Death. The Fest headliners.
Napalm Death. An old high school favorite. One of the first bands that I ever listened to, and thought "what the fuck is happening." Back in '89/'90, right before "Harmony Corruption" was released (introducing Barney Greenway as singer), I picked up "From Enslavement to Obliteration" at a Dallas metal record store called Underground Records. At the time, I was aware of the hype surrounding Earache Records. The kind of hype that Southern Lord Records was getting this past decade. (I also want to add that Earache, like Southern Lord, was getting a lot of crossover fans from other genres.) So, one day, with my pennies rattling around in my pocket, I made it to the mysterious Underground Records over in, I think, Plano. I bought the Napalm Death lp, and I believe Bolt Thrower's second album (which I never understood until about 5 years ago when I started listening to them non-stop), and Death's third. Death was already a favorite, but Napalm Death was the band that I made tapes for for the 5 other kids in school that liked metal/hardcore/punk. Obviously, everyone was fascinated. Up to that point, we all thought D.R.I.'s first 2 albums were the fastest things going, only to be blown away by the hypnotic blur of Napalm Death. These days, I can hear more of their crust influences in the guitar riffs, and I think it's safe to say that I understand their influences more, and what it has influenced (a lot).
The poster above has the lineup (which has some mistakes), and I'll go through my thoughts about the various metals that happened. First of all, because of traffic, I got there late, so I missed TerrorMight. The second band was a band from Taiwan with a North American singer dude called Revilement. This band kinda defined what would mostly be heard during the whole fest: Metal Core. Bands that exclusively worship at the alter of Pantera, and Roots era Sepultura (and thrash). Revilement were the worst of the bunch. Generic to the core, the singer at one point said, "This next song is about our two favorite things: sex and VIOLENCE!" I'm not even kidding. This is the reason why people think metal heads are stupid. Terrible.
Next was a Korean band called Ishtar. Symphonic power metal, but with lots of old school metal riffs. I think they may have been the best band of the night (besides Napalm). The (hot) lady singer sang, very, "operatic." Maybe it'll be funny to a lot of folks, but it was fucking good, and the only real change of pace during the whole show. I really don't know much about the genre to really give much reference except Queensryche has to be a big influence on them. The video down below (there's a picture, too) just happened to be their best song. Really great old school metal riffs on that one.
Mahatma, also from Korea, was next. Old school thrash (or "metal core") is what they do best. Not particulary memorable, but powerful, and fun. Here's a video of 'em from that night:
The next two Korean metal bands, Sacrifice and Method, are definitely from that Pantera/mid-90s Sepultura category. I missed Sacrifice because I had seen them before, and I really didn't give a shit. Below is a shot of Method. Method had some ripping guitar solos...I think. Or maybe that was Mahatma. Okay, Asia Metal Fest. Gimme something different.
Oathean. I'm really starting to get the impression that they just go through the motions. However, they were still great because we had just experienced 3 almost identical bands in a row. Here's a shot of them below. I had been having problems with my camera until Napalm Death so that's why the pictures look shitty.
Next, was a super powerful, but another worshipper of that early to mid 90s form of metal called Survive from Japan. I think I got some pictures, but I'm not going to post them. You will never hear about that band again, and I've already forgotten about 'em. Am I being too harsh and cynical? Yes, and you would be too if you had heard 5 bands playing within the same sub-genre.
Last: Napalm Death. They're looking older, but they ran through their entire recording career. Below is some "From Enslavement..." favorites that I filmed, so I wouldn't have to describe much. Great stuff. I'm glad I finally got to see them. Here's also a picture from when I moved closer so I could feel the power better.
Gwanggyosan is a small mountain located in the north of Suwon. I can see it from my school on a clear day. And by clear day, I mean no Yellow Dust. But that shit doesn't fly over usually except during the spring. If you don't know Yellow Dust (황사), it is the dirty old sand that comes from the Gobi Desert in China. Oh, it can be so fun. ANYWAY, Gwanggyosan is not a difficult mountain to hike, but it is long, and so you can get a decent workout from it (if that's what your looking for). There is also one set of extraodinairily high stairs for such a small mountain. Now, the mountains over here in merry ol' Korea are usually "custom made" for hikers, because there's not a mountain in existence over here that doesn't have things like ropes or stairs or something to help you on your hike. So, it's kinda great, but it's kinda bad if you like to do things solo cuz, man, mountains get FUCKING CROWDED sometimes. And if you're trying to get ahead of folks, there's a lot of "jamgganmanyo" (잠깐만요, meaning wait a minute, or in this case, excuse me). Anyhoo, here's some pics on this mountain, the first 3 dating from May 15, and the last 3 from June 11.
This is at the beginning of the hike. From this direction it's a lil' climbing at the beginning, and then it's just nice mostly flat ground until the huge ass stairs that go up half a kilometer. Very pretty, and a nice break from the congested cities here.
And below is my city. Wow, the dust was a bit "out" on that day. Or it could have been the pollen in the air. Anyway, you can make out some apartment blocs out of there, I think. Yeah, it's big.
Here we go. This is on one of the peaks (same as above). You can see what I mean about crowded conditions. This is the fact of life here in Asia. You just have to get used to the idea that there are way too many people in this part of the world.
This is one of the spring water wells (maybe the only one) on the mountain. Comes in handy in case you get lost and need a water refill (which I was about to do on this second hike). Water tastes especially refreshing at these wells. Here a lil child is getting a taste of the purities before she conquers the mountain and claims it for her spiritual ancestors.
And here's some stairs that helps on your hike, however these are not the super tall ones. You just get an idea by looking at these. On other mountains (including this one) you may get stone stairs or rock stairs that they just kinda build into the Earth.
Ahh!!! I told you I got lost, right? Well, this was on my lost trek, and lo and behold, a long lost Nazi Concentration Camp! I'M KIDDING! It's a good ol' Buddhist temple right there. Kinda hidden away, and I really couldn't figure out how to get to it, plus I never know what to do when I do get into those places since I'm not a Buddhist. So, I just take pictures, and feel unwanted, and then gradually make my exit.
